WURMP 2020: Methodology

MoocLab's World University Rankings by MOOC Performance (WURMP) 2020 are the first ever world university rankings based on MOOC provision. These rankings evaluate institutions offering courses on the three leading MOOC platforms - Coursera, edX and FutureLearn.

The WURMP serve two main purposes:

• To provide performance information and comparisons to potential students across the core areas of university MOOC activity
• To allow Universities to evaluate their MOOC performance, set strategic goals and enhance their MOOC-based offering

The results are based on the following 5 performance indicators that measure an institution’s MOOC performance:

• Number of MOOCs (10%)
• Number of Learning Pathways (15%)
• Number of Micro-credentials (20%)
• Number of degrees (20%)
• Average world ranking (35%)

Browse the World Top 100 Universities by MOOC Performance

Number of MOOCs

The number of MOOCs were recorded for each institution offering courses across the three main MOOC platforms - Coursera, edX and FutureLearn.

Number of Learning Pathways

Learning Pathways are course programs consisting of a series of related courses to provide learners with more in-depth learning of a particular subject or skill. Learning pathways are available on all three MOOC platforms in the form of "Specializations" on Coursera, "XSeries" on edX and "Programs" on FutureLearn. The number of Learning Pathways were recorded for each institution offering these programs across the three main MOOC platforms - Coursera, edX and FutureLearn.

Number of Micro-Credentials

A micro-credential is a certificate program that is made up of a series of related courses to develop a particular skill for professional development or earn transferable credits. They provide deep learning in a specific career field and are increasingly recognized by employers for their real job relevance. The number of Micro-Credentials were recorded for each institution offering these programs across the three main MOOC platforms - Coursera, edX and FutureLearn.

Number of Degrees

MOOC-based degrees offer a more affordable (and more flexible) alternative to on-campus degrees as well as other online degree programs. They also have the advantage of being "stackable" as they are built on MOOCs and/or MOOC-based micro-credentials. The number of MOOC-based degrees were recorded for each institution offering these programs across the three main MOOC platforms - Coursera, edX and FutureLearn.

Average world ranking

World university rankings can be used as an indicator of a university's prospects and prestige. Ranking publishers use different performance indicators such as teaching quality, research quality or the ratio of staff to students to place higher education institutions in order of success and impact. Results across the different rankings will vary according to the measures used and the importance they place on the different performance indicators. The average world university ranking performance indicator is based on the mean score obtained from three of the most trusted World University Rankings: Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), QS World University Rankings (QS) and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Exclusions

Universities offering less than 3 MOOCs at the time of data collection were excluded from the rankings.

Data sources

Data relating to MOOCs and MOOC-based credentials was collected directly from the three main MOOC platforms, Coursera, edX and FutureLearn. For the Average World Ranking, ranking scores were obtained from Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), QS World University Rankings (QS) and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) from which the mean score was then calculated.

Rank calculation

To calculate the ranks, the weighted composites of the Z-scores for the 5 individual measures were calculated (reverse coded when necessary) for each institution where the weights represent relative importance of the different measures. The institution with the highest score was given a rank of #1.

Browse the full results of the World University Rankings by MOOC Performance 2020